Plot Monkeys

What? No guest blogger?

Believe it or not, it was near to impossible to get someone to come by on the Saturday before Christmas. I mean…what’s up with that?

Okay, I’m kidding…I mean, I’m not kidding, it was impossible, but it’s certainly not surprising.

However, fabulous author Erica Orloff will be with us next weekend! Have you read any of her books? Because honestly, you should.

Anyway, what I’d like to do today is talk a little bit about goal setting. It’s a good thing to do with the new year right around the corner.

We have a lot of aspiring writers here and let me tell you, the sooner you get used to having goals (ie, deadlines) the better. The Goddess of the Deadline smiled at me when my book was moved back a few months for unrelated reasons, giving me a chance to work out a problem I was having with the book. This doesn’t always happen and my goal for this year is to be more disciplined about writing every single day.

I’ve mentioned before that my local writer’s group does a “100 words in 100 days” challenge and it’s been fabulous. Several writers who had never before finished a book did so under this program. We reported in daily or weekly (depended on the author) and keep each other going. I want to encourage the aspiring writers on Plotmonkeys to get together, maybe start an email loop of your own to encourage each other to write. It’s just an idea. What do you think?

And remember, what you write doesn’t have to be publishable. In fact, one of the most exciting things for me is revision. I actually love revising…when I know what I’m fixing. That’s what was killing me on Phantom’s Touch…I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I wasn’t ready to show the book to my editor yet, either. I had to stop writing for a bit, do galleys (page proofs) on Phantom Pleasures and let the problem stew.

After two and a half weeks, the answer came to me…with help from author, Deborah Hale. And that’s another thing…Deb and I know each other through email loops, but I don’t think we’ve ever met and if we’ve corresponded by email privately, it wasn’t a big deal. We didn’t really know each other. But I mentioned something to her and she came back with an insight I simply hadn’t considered…and after a slew of emails back and forth, my solution became clear. All because an author who really doesn’t know me from Adam said something utterly brilliant in a short email.

Contact with other writers is so essential, I think. Some writers are much more solitary, but I prefer to get myself out there. It’s one reason why I love this blog so much! I like interacting with people. I don’t always have time for it, but when things work out, the experience can be so rewarding.

Okay, so my goal for my next book is to write every day. EVERY. DAY. Even if it’s just 100 words.

What’s your writing goal?